S/List Patch for OpenInsight 9.x

My colleagues at Sprezzatura have just uncovered a small issue with S/List whilst running under OpenInsight version 9.x. With SYSENV CFG_OIPI set to VSPRINTER 2 (the OIPI.NET option in OpenInsight 9.x), the preview generated by S/List can terminate after only ‘printing’ the headings. All other direct output (printer, .csv, etc.) works fine.

With the VSPRINTER option set, everything within S/List under OpenInsight version 9.x runs fine.

The issue was traced to a piece of code that was set to do a GET_PROPERTY from VSPRINTER if the OpenInsight release is greater than OpenInsight 4.1.3. Support for the VSPRINTER2 logic has now been included via a minor change to the offending program and it is currently released in a patch - the full installation will be amended shortly.

Current S/List users (both Designer and Viewer users) can download the patch from www.sprezzatura.com

Input controls in an OIPI report.

One of the new features of OIPI.Net is the ability to define input controls (textboxes, radio buttons, etc.) that are created on the form and allow user interaction. The additional Set_Printer messages are INPUT_TEXTBOX, INPUT_RADIOBUTTON, INPUT_CHECKBOX, and INPUT_COMBOBOX.

Below is a sample code snippet:

0001 DefaultValue = "LastName,FirstName"
0002 toolTip = "Enter the last and first name"
0003 xPos = 0
0004 yPos = 3.5
0005 posn = ""
0006 posn<1> = xPos
0007 posn<2> = yPos
0008 x = Set_Printer("INPUT_TEXTBOX", DefaultValue, toolTip, posn)

In addition, did you know that you can now configure the use of OIPI versus OIPI.Net by application, and not just globally. Specific control records can be created in the SYSENV table to fine-tune the control of OIPI.

OpenInsight first looks for:
CFG_OIPI**
then
CFG_OIPI*
and lastly
CFG_OIPI

It is then possible to have users of application "ABC" using OIPI, while everyone else uses OIPI.Net or vice versa.

Field 1 of each control record should be either VSPRINTER for OIPI or VSPRINTER2 for OIPI.Net

List Command Reporting Update for Landscape Reports

Works members can download a patch for OpenInsight 9.1.0 and 9.1.1 to resolve a reporting bug that can occur if the definition of the report is too wide for landscape printing. This patch prevents the list command from going into a loop and crashing the OpenInsight engine on certain landscape reports.

This patch can be retrieved from the WORKS download section of http://www.revelation.com/.

In Development - SQL Connector

Back in October, Revelation announced that OpenInsight for Web (O4W) is being designed to bind to SQL tables. This has led to the development of a new SQL Connector that will also be included in OpenInsight 9.2.

The SQL Connector is a Base Filing System (BFS), not a Modified Filing System (MFS) that is currently part of the Client/Server Workspace of OpenInsight. In the past SQL data was only accessible to the Form Designer via the C/S Workspace. With the SQL Connector, SQL tables are now seen as native tables to all components of OpenInsight including forms, reports, popups and stored procedures.

Within each of these components, opens, reads, writes, locks, unlocks and selects all work the same.

The SQL Connector works with the SQL statement that is placed in a dataset. This means that you can bind to tables, use views and multi-table SQL selects. The SQL Connector will point at a dataset and it will create OpenInsight F-type fields for each column in the dataset. Developers can add symbolics, including Xlates to other SQL based tables.

The SQL Connector also utilizes ADO record sets which eliminates the need for developers to deploy ODBC connections to client workstations.

Escrow releases on the rise.

Firstly, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. 2009 was a tough year for many of us, but all in all it proved to be very successful for Revelation and our VARs and I'm looking forward to some good things coming from Revelation through 2010 - not least O4W and the D3 (TigerLogic) connecter.

However, the difficult trading period continues into the New Year and, whilst most Revelation VARs are coping well with the global recession and looking forward to a profitable 2010, the concerns surrounding the loss of an application author (or support company) remain uppermost in many business leaders minds.

Just today, The Register have highlighted the issue following an announcement by Escrow provider NCC Group that they saw a 150% increase in source code releases during 2009. You can view the full article at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/06/recession_escrow_boost/.

Professional escrow services are often expensive to setup and maintain and they do not normally cater for all of the end-users needs. For instance, as an end-user it is great to get the source code for your application but what do you do with it and where do you go to find qualified help.

This is where Revelation’s Business Continuation Service comes into play. Not only does this service cater for the release of source code in the event of a trigger becoming active, but it also caters for providing emergency support services to end-users and brokering new relationships with other Revelation consultants for the future support of the system. In addition, it is also a cost effective solution and one that is much more affordable for smaller organisations and smaller systems.

Please drop me an email or give me a call if you would like to discuss this service in more detail or to review the Business Continuation Service agreement.